Heartbreak
by Lilmissxx
Summary: “Hermione! Wait!” His voice bordered on desperation; arms reaching out into thin air; tears fell down his cheeks, burning a path down his body. Still he continued to run, not even contemplating the possibility that he would lose sight of her. DMHG Oneshot


**Disclaimer: The only thing I own is the plot.**

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**Heartbreak.**

Draco was heartbroken. He didn't know what to do. He had listened to Hermione's broken-hearted cries – particularly her cry of anguish that was thrown to the sky – and his heart ached. He didn't know how to console a loved one. He had never needed to know how. He knelt down beside her, and scooped her into his arms, gently rocking her. Her sobs continued, and his heart continued to break.

He was thrown backwards from the force of her slap. He raised a hand to his cheek, stunned. That was the last thing he had been expecting. He looked at Hermione, whose eyes were blazing with a fire he had never seen before. He gulped. She looked livid. But there was nothing that he had done. He took a step closer to her, arm outstretched.

"No!" Her furious cry rang through his ears, and she hit his arm away. He staggered backwards slightly – not from the force, but from the sheer shock at how she was behaving. What was going on?

"But – I –" His voice resembled his thoughts, scattered and torn apart. His heart thudded dully, each beat weaker than the last. His mind couldn't wrap around the concept of being pushed away.

"Stay away from me!" Each word was filled to the brim with venom, and each one seemed like a dagger to Draco, stabbing his resolve. His throat constricted painfully. He attempted to step forward towards her again. She sent waves of anger towards him, and he simply froze.

There was nothing he could do.

"Why? Why should I? They're gone Hermione! I could help you! Just let me in!" His voice was breaking, his lungs squeezing tightly, and he felt like he couldn't breathe. He couldn't believe that she was putting a wall between them, constructing it so quickly that he had had no time to react. They were friends, he had always helped her, and so what was so different about this time? Her eyes were still blazing, and if looks could kill, then he'd be dead a thousand times over. He was stunned to see the amount of hatred that lurked in the dark depths of her eyes. Her eyes were pitch black; they began to slowly torture him, consuming him whole. She chuckled darkly.

"This is just what I needed. Something to finally get away from everybody else." Draco's mind reeled.

"…What?" Her eyes looked him over, and he shivered with slight fear.

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I hate the fact that my parents are dead." – her throat closed up, and she wiped furiously at her eyes to stem the flow of tears – "But I needed to escape. Don't you see Draco, I was feeling suffocated, the boredom of this puny village was crushing me, sending me further into a dark abyss." He simply stood there, not knowing what to say. She sneered at him.

"I don't –"

"Of course you don't understand! So I'll make things clearer for you," – she stepped closer to him, her voice tinged with malice, and her face set into a deep scowl – "I hate this town," – another step closer – "I hate the noise, the cars, the pollution," – another step. She was so close to his face right now. He was still frozen. His heart and mind were hoping that she wouldn't say it, but he knew it was futile. Instead, he readied himself for the final blow. – "But most of all Draco Malfoy, I hate you." She spat next to his feet, and laughed menacingly at him. His mind reeled. Nothing could have prepared him for that. He would have believed in her charade, had he not seen the glimpse of tears that still remained in her eyes, and the flash of guilt. Knowing she had been found out, she spun on her heel, and ran.

It took a while for what he had seen to sink in, and when he finally realised, Draco's body decided to jerk into action. He searched hurriedly for her, and spied her quickly running around a corner. He ran after her.

"Hermione!" If she had heard him, then she was ignoring him, for she simply carried on running. Draco had reached the corner of the street, and scanned for her wildly, before beginning to run again.

"Hermione! Wait!" His voice bordered on desperation; arms reaching out into thin air; tears fell down his cheeks, burning a path down his body. Still he continued to run, not even contemplating the possibility that he would lose sight of her.

"Hermione! Please!" His voice was hoarse, his throat dry, but still he ran. Sobs began to pour out from his body, the tears still flowing freely from his eyes.

"Hermione! Gods, Hermione!" She finally heard him. He watched her stiffen, before picking up the pace. He knew that he would never catch up with her now. He still ran blindly, not really paying attention to where he was going, but instead, just heading in the vague direction that she had gone.

He tripped over a bump in the pavement and fell heavily, cracking his shin on the kerb. He curled into a ball and continued to sob, rocking himself slightly in order to ease the tremendous ache that had settled deep inside him. He sobbed his heart out, and was left with a gaping hole inside him that burned around the edges, never truly relinquishing the pain. The blood trickled down his leg, and throbbed. He paid it no attention, as he just felt numb.

So numb.

The cold settled in, and he felt the gentle patter of rain attempting to soothe him. He continued to rock backwards and forwards. He was broken, in all senses of the word.

Broken.

That was how Blaise found him, nearly six hours later.

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31/12/08


End file.
